2004 Explorer, will 2001 F150 rims fit?

[Warrior68]

I have a chance to pick up a set of four aluminum five bolt (5 X 135 bolt pattern) 16" 2001 F150 rims with brand new 265/75/R16 tires for a good price. Will these fit my 2004 Explorer XLT? I know the tires will be about an 1.5 inches taller, and a bit wider than my stock 235/70/16 inchers I am running, and that will throw off my speedometer, but I'm ok with that as long as they fit with no rubbing issues.

Thanks Guys

 

[imp]

Ford F-150 wheels used the old familiar bolt pattern of 5 lugs on a 5-1/2" bolt circle for many decades; but, 1996 was the last. In '97, they went to a metric designation, almost the same, but just enough diffeerent that '97-up rims will not fit older F-150s. Now, as far as I know, Explorer uses the old Ford passenger car bolt pattern of 5 lugs on a 4-1/2" bolt circle; this is clearly much smaller than the 2 mentioned above for F-150. The 135mm bolt circle is, incidentally, 5.315".

Correct me here, if I'm wrong, you gentlemen who are more current on this stuff than I. I pulled the above numbers out of memory, which is getting a little hazy after 68 years! imp

 

[Warrior68]

So the rims will not fit is what you are saying?

 

[Squirrelmaster]

No, the wheels will not fit without adapters. The F150 has the 5x135mm bolt pattern as you said, but the Explorer has a 5x4.5" (5x114.3mm) bolt pattern which is far smaller. Now with that said, you could potentially put the F150 tires on your existing wheels, but if you are stock there is a chance they may rub, though it is often held that a 265/75/16 is the largest a stock 3rd gen can go before there will be rubbing. As always each vehicle is different, so what doesn't rub on other's trucks could rub on yours, and vice versa.

Tom

 

[Warrior68]

Thanks for the info, much appreciated!

 

[imp]

The change done to F-150 rims in '97 caused many headaches for the unwary. For example, Jeep used the same bolt pattern as Ford for years & years. A guy bought a set of late-model Ford F-150 alloys w/tires for his Jeep, then found they almost fit. He sold them to me for $150 for the 4 of them.

This was the 2nd. set of nice mag wheels I have thrown on my milling machine and re-worked the holes to fit my early F-150. Nice wheels! imp